management styles richard branson Select a successful entrepreneur and outline his management styles and leadership characteristics
Richard Branson: “An entrepreneur is somebody who is willing to go where others are not. ... Pick up any newspaper or magazine and there’s a good chance you’ll come across a picture of Richard Branson sporting his irrepressible toothy grin and trademark wooly jumper. Airline owner, daredevil stunt man and entrepreneur extraordinaire, few businessmen have captured the public imagination as completely as the larger-than-life chairman of Virgin. ... Branson’s earliest business venture was in fact as the publisher of a student magazine when he was still a 16 yr old school boy. ... At the age of 23, Branson had made his first million. In the years since, artists, like Janet Jackson, Culture Club, the Human League, Phil Collins and Paula Abdul helped to turn the music division into one of the most successful record labels in the world. Branson later pulled off the deal of a lifetime when the sale of Virgin Music to Thorn EMI in 1992 netted the company a cool £560 million. In the space of 25 years Branson has built a major entertainment empire with a turnover of £1. ... So what are the management principles governing the company whose growth has been almost entirely self-generated, with only a handful of acquisitions and partnership deals? Branson’s management philosophy rests squarely on the ‘small is beautiful’ principle put forward by the economist EF Schumacher. ... This is a democratic style of management, it encourages group members to set their own objectives and delegate authority wherever possible, with workers being seen as human beings who can be trusted. As Branson says, ‘Once people stop knowing the other people in the building, its time to break up a company into smaller units. ... ’ Branson’s management style results in the highest productivity, and thus his employees have the greatest feeling of involvement and job satisfaction, it provides good communication and relationships on all levels. In line with this philosophy, the highly decentralized management structure that has evolved at Virgin is a classic example of ‘empowerment’, with managers being given the freedom to organise the day-to-day running of their companies as they see fit . ... People, when asked, might describe Branson as a leader.